SAN FRANCISCO (REUTERS) - LinkedIn Corp reported revenue jumped 59 per cent to US$363.7 million (S$436 million) in the second quarter after membership grew at a faster pace for the first time since late 2011.

The site now boasts 238 million users, a 37 per cent increase from a year ago and a 9 per cent increase from the first quarter.

LinkedIn's revenues have beat expectations for nine consecutive quarters while other social media firms have stumbled badly since going public.

Still, the professional social network faces the same challenges as its competitors, and chief executive Jeff Weiner has previously signaled that LinkedIn's new mobile products could take months to gain traction.

Those concerns lingered when the company on Thursday provided a lower-than-expected forecast for the third quarter, which tempered investor enthusiasm.

The San Francisco company projected sales of between US$367 and US$373 million for the third quarter but also raised its full-year revenue guidance to between US$1.455 billion and US$1.475 billion.

The company's shares rose 7 percent to a record $228.50 after the bell.

The social network makes much of its money by selling access to its members' resumes to corporate recruiters.

But as the social network has approached a saturation point among white-collar workers in the United States, the CEO has pursued growth by turning LinkedIn into a popular mobile app and highly trafficked website rather than a mere resume repository.

In recent quarters, he has introduced blog posts by luminaries like Mr Bill Gates in an attempt to draw Web traffic - and with that, advertising revenue.

Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter was US$44.5 million, compared to US$18.1 million for the second quarter of 2012.

The Straits Times

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